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The Lost Honeymoon

Made in 1947. When an Englishwoman dies, leaving behind two children, her devoted friend played by the beautiful Ann Richards decides to take the children to find the woman's husband, an American serviceman played by Franchot Tone who had returned to the USA. But the father, now a successful architect, claims not to remember ever having gotten married or having any children.

In Great Britain, an American man fathers some children during World War II service. He seems to desert them, but may actually have amnesia. The mother goes to America where she finds the man does not remember having amnesia. He is going to marry another woman, which would give him two wives. However, the man begins to like the wife and children he doesn't remember. He must choose between the two women, but also please the new one's father who happens to be his boss.

 
Junior Miss

Made in 1945. New York teenager gets involved in everyone's lives by playing cupid. She turns the household upsidedown and gets her dad fired by fixing up her uncle with the boss's daughter.

This is a delightful film that I love to view whenever I run across it. It features Peggy Ann Garner as Judy, the thirteen-year-old daughter of a middle class family in New York in the forties.Through a procession of misunderstandings, the family is thrown into a series of calamaties during the Christmas/New Years holiday. Of course, at the end,all is well thanks to Judy. Peggy Ann Garner's performance is just perfect, and her relationship with Barbara Whiting, who plays Judy's best friend Fuffy,seems very true to life. I guess this film might seem a tad boring to some modern viewers, but it certainly transports me back to a wonderful time. Be sure to be on the lookout for Mel Torme, who has a tiny role as one of the boyfriends of Judy's older sister. He looks like he is about fifteen years old,but he has that unmistakable voice!
 
Career Girl

Made in 1944. PRC...I love the way that logo looks on screen. A group of people without a lot of money putting out movies. It wasn't MGM, it didn't try to be. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't. This one works. This is really a showcase for the remarkable talents of Miss Frances Langford. Beautiful to look at, delightful to hear. Forgettable songs? Nothing that Frances Langford sang is forgettable. Oh how I wish she had gotten that big movie that she had hoped for! A lavish MGM musical! Sadly, that never happened. In the hands, or should I say the vocal cords, of Frances Langford these songs are most memorable. One of them was written by Morey Amsterdam, brilliant comedian and mainstay of the **** Van Dyke show. The plot concerns Joan Terry (Frances Langford) sweet country girl in the big city trying to break into show business and torn between pursuing her dream or returning home to marry her boyfriend. I'll not go any further with the plot, I'm sure you can guess the outcome.

What is so wonderful about this movie, aside from the gorgeous singing of Frances, is the tight ensemble. The way the cast interacts with each other raising a rather ordinary story into a comedy/drama you can really get into. OK, the big dance number at the end is not always in sync but who cares when you have Frances Langford to see and listen to. Iris Adrian is her delightful, cynical self sticking her nose into everything. Edward Norris, a sophisticated if naive friend/suitor of Joan Terry. Craig Woods a stuffed shirt of a boyfriend from back home. Excellent cameos by Charles Judels and Charles Williams as eccentric Broadway producers. Ariel Heath as the star struck stage struck aspiring actress and others too numerous to mention. Career Girl is what it is...a delightful 1940's musical that entertains. I guarantee that the voice and beauty of Frances Langford will remain with you after seeing this film and that you will return to see it over and over again.
 
Strictly Ballroom

Made in 1992. Scott Hastings is a champion calibre ballroom dancer, but much to the chagrin of the Australian ballroom dance community, Scott believes in dancing "his own steps". Fran is a beginning dancer and a bit of a plain Jane at first who has the audacity to ask to be Scott's partner after his unorthodox style causes his regular partner to dance out of his life. Together, these two misfits try to win the Australian Pan Pacific Championships and show the Ballroom Confederation that they are wrong when they say, "there are no new steps!"

The EDITING is superb. All too often we focus on the actors, music, or cinematography. This is natural, and in this film all of these are superb. But keep a close watch of the editing - wow, it is perfect and ties the whole film together flawlessly. There are so many cuts that make the perspective magical.(And no, I am not a film editor.)

Look at WHO is dancing together as couples, right at the end. This, like so many other fine details, carries lots of significance.

When Scott and Fran are practising on the deck at her house, under the instruction of her family, her Spanish father dances with her and says "Muy bien, muy bien, Fran. Very good!" Notice that he uses her Anglo name "Fran" rather than her Spanish name, and converts over to English. The look he gives her tells us that he is probably seeing his (deceased) wife, via his daughter whom he loves, and that he finally ACCEPTS her and her Anglo boyfriend. This is but one of many small scenes that have more depth than may be first apparent.
 
Little Mo

Made in 1978. Last night while on a search on the internet for information about Maureen Connolly, I was lucky enough to find this movie. And wow, what a surprise it was. As a life long follower of tennis and especially of the women's game, I was thrilled to come across this seemingly almost forgotten film biopic of the fabled Little Mo.

I can say here and now it's one of the finest if not the finest made for TV movies ever made. Depicting the life of Maureen, her success's and struggles on and off the court, it does a wonderful job.

Glynnis O'Connor is positively luminous as Maureen. And gives, in my opinion, one of the great acting performances in a female lead. The many action scenes on the court are fantastic and add a gritty realism to the movie as it concentrates on her battles to defeat certain players at different stages of her career.

Michael Learned is equally stirring as the genius but ultra-strict coach, Eleanor "Teach" Tennant, who guides her to the top, falls out with her, but is movingly reconciled with her at the end. The rest of the cast are good too. And this is definitely a film worth seeing for any serious tennis fan and especially of the women's game as it reveals the life and times of one it's most Iconic and cherished competitors.
 
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